Reshuffling Ukraine’s judiciary

In a decisive anti-corruption move, Ukraine has started the implementation of 2016 reforms by holding a c...

In a decisive anti-corruption move, Ukraine has started the implementation of 2016 reforms by holding a contest for new Supreme Court judges.

A year ago, the Ukrainian Parliament approved a set of judicial reforms aiming to limit the political influence on judges. The Bill, ‘On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges’, introduced a contest-based procedure for filling 120 vacancies in the Supreme Court, compelling all current judges to either resign or re-apply for their positions and allowing new candidates with no previous judicial experience to apply.

The High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) completed the final stage of the selection in May. In a statement, HQCJ’s chair, Sergii Kozyakov, called the process a “top down revolution” and added that “Ukraine is the world’s first to create the Supreme Court of such scale”.